


Sick Day

by ellymango



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Budding Love, Crushes, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-20 06:39:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4777289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellymango/pseuds/ellymango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wallace has only been Sootopolis gym leader for a few months when he wakes up one morning, too ill to even get out of bed. To his utmost surprise, he is woken up by a most unlikely visitor...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And so it continues. Please tell me this isn't as weird as it sounds, it sounded cuter in my head...
> 
> I imagine Steven to be about 22 and Wallace to be 24 in this one.

Being sick was never fun.

It was even less fun when you fell ill barely a month into your new job. But alas, that was the situation Wallace found himself in. The previous day he’d been feeling slightly unwell: light headed, a little giddy and rather nauseous. Today, his temples were thumping, his fever was off the chart and he dared not eat anything for fear of throwing up. Needless to say, he had no hope in Hells chance of going to work.

His sense of time had been pretty scrambled, though he was certain he’d woken up at four in the morning with a searing headache and a pulsating pain in his stomach that sent him staggering to the bathroom to vomit. Falling back into bed he’d drifted in and out of fitful sleep, waking up occasionally to the sound of his phone buzzing away at his bedside. He didn’t bother answering it: he’d told everyone he felt he needed to tell about his situation already. 

He didn’t know what time, heck, even what _day_ it was now. Not that it mattered much at the moment, and honestly he didn’t even care. His only concern at that moment in time was getting enough rest to recover from whatever illness he’d acquired.

Lying in bed, somewhere between the realm of sleep and consciousness, Wallace swore he felt something brushing against his forehead, clearing his sweat-mussed hair from his face. Suddenly, a damp cloth was pressed ever so lightly against his left temple, then his right, and then it tentatively moved down his face, taking the edge off his blazing fever. This was… bizarre. As far as he knew, he’d told everyone he knew to stay away, in case his illness was contagious…

His eyes cracked open.

“Oh goodness, I didn’t wake you did I?” The voice of his mystery nurse was oddly familiar, as was their head of tousled silver hair, and fine long-lashed eyes of a similar colour. It was somebody he _knew,_ but not somebody he knew well. Focusing more intensely, he realised exactly _who_ this person was.

“C-champion?” Wallace tried to sit up, only for every muscle in his upper body to tense simultaneously, causing him to gasp silently in pain. His surprise visitor eased him back down, picking up the wet flannel again, wringing it out and holding it softly against Wallaces cheek.

“Shh… please, call me Steven…” 

Wallace was baffled. “Wh-what are you doing-“

“What am I doing here? I… well, I got word that one of the gym leaders wasn’t in, and I decided to check up on them, to see if they were alright and whatnot, and when I came I saw your front door was unlocked and there was no one else here and I guess I just felt that I needed to make sure that you were alright.” His rambling response seemed sincere enough to the bedridden leader, who gave a few slight nods before letting his head sink deep into his pillow.

“Have you phoned a doctor yet?” 

“No… I…”

“Would you like me to phone one?” Steven had his PokéNav in hand already.

“No… it’s just a 24 hour bug that’s going round… I’ll be…” Wallace started coughing violently: a terrible grating, dry cough that sent him rolling onto his side, curled up into a tight ball, with tears threatening to leak from squeezed-shut eyelids. Steven reached out, vigorously rubbing in between his shoulders, finally alleviating the sudden attack. “Th-thank you…”

“No problem.” 

The leaders brow creased. “I apologise if I sound rude, but… shouldn’t you be at work too?”

Steven shifted in his chair. “The League can be an incredibly… _boring_ place if there are no challengers. Most people can tell you I’m forever slipping away from there.” 

“I can only imagine.” The gym could be a fairly boring place too, he learnt, but there was still a steady flow of challengers to ensure that the job wasn’t totally unbearable. 

“I would expect a gym to be a little more busy?”

“It can be…” Wallace coughed again, waving off the tentative hand that immediately hovered over him. “But it all depends on the challengers, I guess. Though I can’t say for sure, I haven’t been in the position for that long…”

“Really?” The champions face lit up. “I’ll let you in on something… I’m new too.”

“So I’ve heard!” He could vaguely remember hearing the news of a new League Champion around the same time he took his own position in the gym. He’d even met Steven before now, albeit in a more stiff and formal environment, when he was ceremonially welcomed as the newest Sootopolis gym leader. 

Having now gotten over the surprise visit (and his recent coughing fit) Wallace took the time to carefully inspect the handsome features of his visitor. Of course, he’d already heard of and seen for himself the legendary beauty of Steven Stone, but this was the first time he’d be able to admire him up close and personal. He was indeed, extremely attractive.

“Are you alright…?” Steven pressed a unusually rough hand against Wallaces forehead.

“Well, aside from everything else I’m otherwise fine…” a weak chuckle escaped him. “Why do you ask?”

“You were just… staring at me.”

 _It’s impossible not to…_ “Oh, I do apologise…”

“No, no, there’s no need to…” 

“You don’t mind people staring at you?” Wallaces hoarse voice inexplicably took on a more flirtatious air, which, suffice to say, was not what he had intended.

“Oh, well, there’s that, and I guess I’ve just become rather used to it over the years…” A rosy blush tinted Stevens nose as he spoke.

Wallace chuckled again, a sudden wave of drowsiness sweeping over him as he yawned widely. 

“Am I keeping you up?” The prettiest of smiles accompanied Stevens words, as he held the flannel against Wallaces chin, as though he were tenderly cupping his face.

“Not… really…” Though his drooping eyelids told a different story. He felt Stevens thumb rubbing across his cheekbone.

“Get some rest now. I’ll stay here for a while.” Those were the last words Wallace heard before he slipped back into dreamless sleep.

*  
When he awoke, Steven was no longer there. He had left a neatly written note on Wallaces bedside cabinet, explaining that he had been summoned to the League for a battle and thus couldn’t stay with the stricken gym leader (“as he had hoped”, he’d written). Wallace couldn’t help but feel slightly saddened: he’d rather enjoyed the brief company.

It was the day after his unexpected visit when a gift arrived from none other than his unexpected visitor. The get-well letter was enough of a surprise, though what surprised him most was the elegant bouquet of delicate green flowers that were handed to him by the postman that morning. They too came with a short note.

Returning to bed, feeling a little better than he had the day previously, Wallace opened the letter, reading the card within.

_Dear Wallace,_  
_I had been hoping to see you again today… unfortunately something come up at work and I couldn’t. I hope you don’t take it the wrong way, but I did enjoy our meeting the other day, brief as it was!_  
I do hope I can see you again sometime, after you’re feeling better of course!  
All the best,  
Steven. 

The card had put the gentlest of smiles onto Wallaces face as he set it by his bed. Then he picked up the bouquet. Green flowers… how very unusual, yet he found them incredibly charming nonetheless.

He read the note attached to them.

_I do hope you’re not allergic to flowers, I probably should have asked… I apologise if you are!  
They’re carnations, by the way. I’ve always had a soft spot for them. Have you?_


	2. Epilogue

_Here goes nothing..._

Wallace lightly knocked on the front door, ears pricking at the sound of footsteps on the other side. He shifted, hiding his thank-you gift behind his back with a smirk.

The door swung open. _"Ah, Wallace! Glad to see you're finally well."_ Steven motioned into the house. "Care to come in?"

"I'm afraid not, I'm only passing by..." Or, he would be if his understanding of Stevens get-well-soon bouquet was false. _If his assumption was correct, however..._

"Have you got something behind your back?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, pardon me... these are for you. As a thank you for looking after me." With a flourish, he bought out his own bouquet of green carnations. Stevens eyes went wide immediately, and he scratched the back of his neck, giggling into himself.

"I uh... I take it you know what these flowers mean then?"

It was Wallaces turn to giggle this time. "Oh, but of course I do."

Steven took the bouquet from him, his smile never faltering. "Well then..." He rubbed his neck again. “I, uh, guess I need to ask you this then.”

“Ask me what?” He hadn’t been expecting any questions.

“Will you... be my boyfriend, Wallace?” Wallace could hear a playful wink in Stevens voice.

 _“Do I really need to answer?”_ And his radiant grin lit up his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I'd add an ending to this thing. I'm planning a big... something for you all eheuheuheu

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don't know, in ye olden days (if my memory serves me right) gay guys used to give each other green carnations as a way of saying they had a crush on them. It was sort of like a secret code.


End file.
